[352] “I often give a present of two marks between times, pay often for extra service, and give my servants a great deal of cast-off clothing. The head of a factory is not obliged to propitiate the bad temper and sullen moods of his employees with gifts and fees as we housekeepers have to do.”—German housekeeper, Berlin. “I give my cook a great deal of my husband’s cast-off clothing and the housemaid much of my own.”—Italian housekeeper, Rome. [353] “I would not think of leaving less than two shillings with the housemaid when I have spent a night in a friend’s house.”—Englishwoman, Cambridge. “I always leave five shillings with the servant when I spend Sunday with friends, and as she always seems glad to see me when I return I imagine it is enough.”—Englishwoman, London. The traditional reply ascribed to Hanway (Bouniceau-Gesmon, p. 134) in declining an invitation from an English lord, “I am not rich enough to dine with you,” is typical of what one often hears in England. “Vails to servants in households where a considerable number of visitors are entertained must be an important item in the real earnings of servants.”—Miss Collet, _Report_, p. 29. An admirable discussion of the whole subject of fees paid by guests is given by W. J. Stillman in _The Nation_, October 11, 1900. See also _The Nation_, November 8, 1900. Mr. Albert Matthews in _The Nation_, December 13, 1900, cites an extract from the London _Chronicle_ that shows that the custom dates back certainly as far as 1765. Babeau, pp. 301-302, discusses the abuses of the custom in France, though they are less there than in Italy, and especially in England “where one cannot go out to dine without encountering, on leaving, all the servants drawn up in line and holding out their hands.” [354] “It is very stupid, but it is generally done.”—German housekeeper, Dresden. “The cook makes about three marks a month in this way.”—German housekeeper, Berlin. “The ‘sou in the franc’ that certain tradesmen agree to give servants is not only tolerated, but it is recognized as a right.”—M. G. Salomon, p. 549. “In the expression ‘theft’ we do not hesitate to include the ‘dancing of the basket’; the ‘sou in the franc’ given by some dealers does not constitute an act of disloyalty on the part of the domestic. It is for the master, if he would escape this tax, to levy it on the tradesmen less clever in advertising, unless he is very sure that the merchant makes the servant this allowance _out of his profits alone_.”—Weber, p. 47.